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WELLINGTON, New Zealand >> A 51-year-old engineer working at an airplane testing facility has been sucked into an engine and killed.
Domestic carrier Air New Zealand confirmed the man was performing routine maintenance on a
Lockheed C-130 Hercules airplane engine just after 8 a.m. Monday at the Woodbourne air field in Blenheim when he was sucked into the engine.
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the engine was sitting on a stand without propellors attached and was not affixed to a plane at the time of the accident.
Tasman Police communications manager Barbara Dunn said emergency services personnel performed CPR but couldn’t revive the man.
The man worked for a Safe Air, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand. He has not been named pending notification of his family.
